As the Community Open Day was in full swing in Tooting on 12 October, approximately 5000 miles away in Beijing, China, Professor Julian Ma and James Hallinan, head of enterprise and innovation, were extending St George's community outreach by showcasing the university’s research at the London Universities International Partnership (LUIP) London Innovation Showcase.

LUIP, of which St George's, University of London is a member, is a group of 16 London universities, formed to promote London as a study destination for students around the world. As part of the UK's trade delegation to China this month, LUIP organised a London showcase event in the Yang Gallery in Beijing. This pop-up installation showcased the fantastic range of innovative projects which take place in London's universities. The event was open to the public over four days from 12 to 15 October, and on Sunday 13 the VIP reception was attended by David Willets MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science; Mayor of London, Boris Johnson; and Meng Fei, Chinese TV host and celebrity.

A team from St George’s, University of London has been shortlisted for a Prospects Postgraduate Award, which recognises and rewards excellence and innovation in postgraduate education.

More than 150 students, universities and businesses from across the UK entered the awards across eight categories. The Postgraduate Diploma Physician Associate Studies Teaching Team at St George's will compete against teams from the University of Glasgow, University of Bradford and Cranfield University for the title of Best Teaching Team (Science, Technology and Engineering).

New research has shown that the non-hallucinogenic components of cannabis could act as effective anti-cancer agents.

The anti-cancer properties of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary hallucinogenic component of cannabis, has been recognised for many years, but research into similar cannabis-derived compounds, known as cannabinoids, has been limited.

People with mental health problems are up to three times more likely to become victims of crime than the general population, research involving a senior academic from Kingston University and St George's, University of London has found.

The report, produced by Victim Support and Mind in partnership with academics from Kingston University and St George's, University of London, King's College London and University College London, also found people with severe mental illness were more likely to be repeat victims of crime. However, they were often not believed by those they reported it to or their reports were discredited because of their mental health problems. They were also more deeply affected by crime than people without mental health issues.

A new study has found that British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and the late Lady Thatcher used hubristic language during their respective periods in office.

It has been suggested that a number of Prime Ministers may have developed a personality disorder known as Hubris syndrome while in power. Researchers at St George’s, University of London have discovered that this personality change was reflected in both Blair’s and Thatcher’s use of language.

Heart researchers at St George’s, University of London have been awarded prestigious grants of more than £650,000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The grants have been funded through the BHF Great British Bag-athon, which raised £4m last year by encouraging people to donate bags of unwanted items to BHF shops across the country in the fight against heart disease.

Steve Goodbourn, professor of biomolecular science at St George's University of London, has been granted a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award.

Investigator Awards, presented by the Wellcome Trust, provide funding for scientists who have an excellent track record and are in an established academic post. They offer the flexibility and time to enable them to tackle the most important questions in their field.

An international study has shown that short-term blood sugar control in patients with diabetes has a limited effect on their risk of cardiovascular problems, such as heart disease and stroke.

Conventional belief has been that high blood sugar is a major factor in cardiovascular disease. However, this latest research adds to a growing body of evidence that risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes cannot be managed meaningfully by controlling blood sugar alone.

People suffering with dementia are much more likely to acquire incontinence than those without dementia, the largest study of its kind has found. The analysis also found that patients with dementia and incontinence were more likely to receive incontinence medications and indwelling catheters than those with incontinence but without dementia.

The research, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, analysed the records of over a quarter of a million patients in The Health Improvement Network (THIN)*, a database of nearly 500 UK primary care practices. Data captured between 2001 and 2010 relating to around 55,000 people with dementia was compared with the data from around 200,000 people without dementia.